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. 2025 Apr 9:7:1547535.
doi: 10.3389/ftox.2025.1547535. eCollection 2025.

Lupin poisoning: a review

Meye Bloothooft #  1 , Pien Cremers #  2 , Sükriye Güven #  2 , Stijn J Stoutjesdijk  2 , Mara Jiron  2 , Mark Wessel  2 , Marcel A G Van Der Heyden  1
Affiliations

Lupin poisoning: a review

Meye Bloothooft et al. Front Toxicol. .

Abstract

Introduction: Lupin beans are the seeds of plants from the Fabaceae family. These beans are rich in protein and used for human consumption for several millennia. Their popularity is still increasing. Some species produce beans with high alkaloid contents, specifically of spartaine and lupanine. Without proper processing, consuming these beans can result in lupin poisoning that causes anticholinergic syndrome. We systematically analyzed all case reports describing lupin poisoning in humans in order to define most observed clinical findings, treatment options and outcome.

Methods: We screened Pubmed and Google scholar for human case reports on lupin poisoning. Obtained full-text papers in any language were screened for eligibility. Demographics, time-to-symptoms, treatment and outcome were analyzed. Symptoms were categorized using the ICD11 classification.

Results: Twenty-seven case reports describing 33 patients were obtained. Poisoning occurred in all age groups and sexes equally. Most frequent symptoms were bilateral mydriasis (n = 25), xerostomia (n = 25), blurred vision (n = 17), lightheadedness (n = 14), weakness (n = 11). Onset of symptoms was typically within 60 min. In most cases no treatment was required, and symptoms resolved within 24 h after which patients were discharged. Two of four children in the cohort required ICU admission and one died.

Discussion: Lupin poisoning is rare and requires most often a conservative clinical approach. However, in children the effects are more severe than in adults. Frequency of lupin poisoning may rise due to increased popularity of the beans as an alternative protein source.

Keywords: ACS; L. albus; L. mutabilis; alkaloid; anticholinergic syndrome; intoxication; lupin; poisoning.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
(A) Desiccated seeds and (B) discarded skins of white lupin or termis bean (Lupinus alba), from the Roman period (first to early second century AD) recovered from domestic refuse deposits at Quseir al-Qadim, Egypt (Van der Veen, 2011), Plate 13. Copyright M. Van der Veen, photos J. Morales (reproduced with approval of the original authors)). (C) Processed 21st century lupin seeds from the supermarket (inset container). (D) lupin seeds from the horticultural popular Washington lupin (Lupinus polyphyllus). Scale bar for panels (A–D). (E) Chemical structures of alkaloids present in lupin seeds (drawn using MolView).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Flowchart of the in- and exclusion criteria of lupin poisoning case reports.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Sex (A) and age (B) distribution of lupin poisoning patients. NI = not included in the case report.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Time before onset symptoms (A), treatment (B) and recovery time (C) of lupin poisoning patients. NI = not included in the case report.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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